The $1 million Woodbine Mile (G1T) offers the winning horse an automatic entry into the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T) Nov. 2 at Del Mar. This year’s Woodbine feature drew a field of eight.
Leading the field is Big Rock , with $1.7 million in career earnings, who was victorious in the group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in October 2023 at Ascot in Great Britain. Filo Di Arianna is perfect in five races on the Woodbine turf, including the grade 2 King Edward Stakes in August. Trainer Charles Appleby, who has saddled the winner of this race the past two years, starts Naval Power this year off a head defeat in the grade 1 Turf Classic Stakes when last seen in May.
My Boy Prince was second in the $1 million King’s Plate Stakes Aug. 23 and attempts to transfer that form to turf, while Win for the Money hopes to improve off a runner-up effort in the Kentucky Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile Stakes in August. Playmea Tune stretches out to a mile and moves to turf for the first time but ran extremely well when beaten by a neck in the Bold Venture Stakes (G3) a few weeks ago. Secret Reserve won the Steady Growth Stakes last December but is winless in five races this year. Niagara Skyline has managed to win a quarter-million dollars without ever winning a stakes race but did win his most recent start on the Woodbine turf in July.
Main Contenders:
Big Rock started 2024 as the highest rated turf miler in the world based on a phenomenal 2023 campaign which saw the colt win five times in nine races and finish second three times. The only time he finished worse than second was his career debut in January 2023 before reeling off four wins in a row. Last October, Big Rock ran the best race of his career when destroying a quality field by six lengths in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, earning a 132 Equibase Speed Figure in the process. Moved to a new trainer this past spring, Big Rock unfortunately stumbled badly at the start then moved up quickly but rushing up took its toll and he faded to sixth in his 2024 debut. He didn’t fare much better in his next race when 10th of 13 but started to show signs of life last month when fifth in a Group 1 race. In his last two starts, Big Rock was beaten by Charyn, one of the top turf milers in the world, who would be the odds-on favorite in this race if entered. Jockey Umberto Rispoli ships in to ride and is one of the top jockeys in Southern California. Rispoli also has had a lot of success in graded stakes on turf, winning nearly 25% of the time (11 for 46) over the past 12 months. Given the colt’s prowess at this mile trip, we can assume his connections are not sending the horse thousands of miles just for the experience and Big Rock can run well enough to win this race. Considering his fantastic efforts last year in top company and that 132 figure (as well as 121 and 120 figures in two other top efforts), Big Rock appears to be the one to beat with his best effort.
Filo Di Arianna loves the Woodbine turf, where he’s a perfect 5-for-5, including wins in the King Edward Stakes at the one-mile trip in 2022 and 2023. He earned a 104 figure in this year’s King Edward and 106 last year, and he ran even faster when winning the bet365 Highlander Stakes this past June with a 109 figure. Filo Di Arianna can win on the lead or from off the pace and jockey Kazushi Kamura, who has been riding in Southern California, comes in to ride this horse who he has won with three times in three tries. As such, Filo Di Arianna certainly warrants a lot of respect as a win contender in this field.
If Naval Power wins it will give trainer Charles Appleby a victory in the Woodbine Mile for the third year in a row. He won the race two years ago with Modern Games and last year with Master of The Seas, both with jockey William Buick in the saddle. Buick comes in from England to ride Naval Power for this race. The horse finished second in the similar Maker’s Mark Mile in April then led late and came up a head shy of winning the Turf Classic in May, with 109 and 104 figures, respectively. His best effort came in January of 2023 when earning a 112 figure, which is one of the best in the group except for Big Rock, so if that one doesn’t run as expected, Naval Power may get the job done.
The rest of the field (with best Equibase Speed Figure): My Boy Prince (106), Niagara Skyline (107), Playmea Tune (111), Secret Reserve (101) and Win for the Money (108).
Win Contenders (in probability/preference order):
Big Rock
Filo Di Arianna
Naval Power